Overview

• Israel’s Chief Rabbis issued an urgent letter calling on parents to vaccinate children, describing vaccination as a halakhic obligation rooted in the command to safeguard life.
• Four children about one to two years old have died in recent days in haredi neighborhoods in and around Jerusalem during the current measles outbreak.
• Three of the children who died were unvaccinated, and one had some immunization but was infected before reaching the age for the measles shot.
• The Health Ministry reports continued transmission and urges vaccination, with a focus on children and communities with low coverage.
• A leading rabbinic judge, Rabbi Moshe Bransdorfer, condemned efforts to dissuade vaccination and wrote that vaccinating on Shabbat may be permitted when delay poses risk.